11.18.2008

Just two weeks ago, Barack Obama became the President-elect of the United States of America. And in a twist of fate California's notorious Proposition 8 also passed, effectively banning same-sex marriages in the Golden State. While similar anti-gay measures were passed in Florida, Arizona, and Arkansas, the California decision has stung our community the most.

In the past fourteen days there has been much finger-pointing as to who is truly responsible for getting this measure to pass. At first socially conservative African-Americans and Latino Americans were singled out for voting for a progressive presidential candidate while supporting this oppressive ballot question. Recently, The Church of Latter-Day Saints have been bearing much of the brunt after The New York Timesrevealed that significant Mormon donations may have tipped the scales. The outcry by the American gay community has been enormous. Perhaps some of you readers participated in the nationwide protests last weekend; it was queer mobilization to a scale not seen since Stonewall.

On election day, the vote on Proposition 8 was split down the middle among Asians in California. According to exit polls, 51% of Asian-Americans voted against the ban while 49% supported it. Believe it or not, Asian-Americans came out on top in voting NO to Proposition 8. Out of the racial groups polled, Asians and Caucasians were the only two that voted as a majority against the measure. Check out the maps below!

County-by-County Breakdown of Prop 8 Voting Record vs. Asian-American Population

2 comments:

the media seems to lump all minorities together (blacks, latinos, south asians, etc) when they state that all minorities voted for prop 8. nice to know that desis are not as old-fashioned as i thought.